What is the emotional state of those who recognize their true state of being created in a state of continual need? How would you feel if you became increasingly aware that you are incomplete in yourself? If you dropped all your false defenses and admitted your true condition of never quite being fully complete and satisfied in this world?
You would be sad...and more than that...I believe you would mourn.
In Mt. 5:4, Jesus tells us that those who mourn are blessed; they shall be comforted. I believe He is saying that blessed are those who do not try to cover over their sadness at being created in a state of continual need with the things of this world. How easy it is to do this! We are now nearing Christmas and most are participating in the frenzy of purchasing gifts that do not last. How wonderful it is to give, but how dangerous it is to try to fill that God shaped hole in each of us through either giving or receiving.
Far better Jesus says is it for us to regularly sense that ache...to mourn...so that we remember that we were created for union with something (someone) far greater than ourselves and anything in this world. We should mourn because we were made for union with God...and until that union is complete...we are not complete. Blessed are those who recognize that fact.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Poor in spirit
Most have heard and are familiar with the sermon on the mount recorded in the fifth chapter of Matthew. But getting to the exact meaning of the words spoken by Jesus is another matter. Especially at the beginning, the sermon on the mount is an enigmatic collection of sayings starting with the Jesus telling us that the poor in spirit are "blessed" and that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them.
So naturally we are left to ask, "what does it mean to be poor in spirit"?
To be poor is to be lacking something. In this case, it is doubtful that what is lacking is money. The poor in spirit are literally lacking spirit. But what does that mean? I agree with Jamison, Faucett and Brown that it probably is referring to a "frame of mind." It is a frame of mind that not only possesses the quality of being poor in spirit, but also recognizes its condition. I believe the underlying theme of the New Testament is that each of us is in reality poor in spirit; however few actually recognize that fact. Blessed are those who recognize their true condition of being poor in spirit.
Yet, what consists of true recognition of this fact? Is there something beyond the fact that we realize that we are poor in spirit? Is that all that is to be found in this "frame of mind"? I believe not.
It is the recognition not only of our true condition of being "poor in spirit", but also that the answer to that "lacking" is found only in God. Put a different way, we are all created with a God-shaped hole in our hearts. We are created in the condition of continuous need. We spend lifetimes filling that need with all kinds of things that really don't fit.
Blessed is the man (woman) who recognizes their true condition of being created in need and the true answer to that need....God Himself. For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
So naturally we are left to ask, "what does it mean to be poor in spirit"?
To be poor is to be lacking something. In this case, it is doubtful that what is lacking is money. The poor in spirit are literally lacking spirit. But what does that mean? I agree with Jamison, Faucett and Brown that it probably is referring to a "frame of mind." It is a frame of mind that not only possesses the quality of being poor in spirit, but also recognizes its condition. I believe the underlying theme of the New Testament is that each of us is in reality poor in spirit; however few actually recognize that fact. Blessed are those who recognize their true condition of being poor in spirit.
Yet, what consists of true recognition of this fact? Is there something beyond the fact that we realize that we are poor in spirit? Is that all that is to be found in this "frame of mind"? I believe not.
It is the recognition not only of our true condition of being "poor in spirit", but also that the answer to that "lacking" is found only in God. Put a different way, we are all created with a God-shaped hole in our hearts. We are created in the condition of continuous need. We spend lifetimes filling that need with all kinds of things that really don't fit.
Blessed is the man (woman) who recognizes their true condition of being created in need and the true answer to that need....God Himself. For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
What drives us?
It's unfortunately all too common that people rarely think about what is setting the direction of their lives. We tend to spend more time thinking about what we are going to do later in the day or week then we spend thinking about the direction and course of our life. However, there are some thoughtful people who do spend time thinking those deeper thoughts, and if you were to ask them what it was that influenced their decision on the direction of their life...odds are the answer would fall into one of 3 categories.
The first category is essentially that of ideas or knowledge. Some people believe that they set the direction of their life based upon their knowledge of the world around them. They will emphasize education, data, and use the argument that before any decision is made, careful research is undertaken to help guide their decision. The impact of emotion or belief is minimized and the rational is placed at the forefront.
The second category that people feel guide their decisions in life is their beliefs. This is where the goal of establishing a true view of the world (worldview) is important. Beliefs are different than ideas in my definition because ideas are purely rational while beliefs have a component of emotional attachment to the ideas. Those who argue this position believe that decisions regarding the direction of one's life are made based upon their strongly held beliefs regarding their view of the world.
The third category is one of desire. Those who argue this position believe that we are led in our lives first and foremost by our desires. It is certainly true that desires are influenced by rational thought and also by beliefs regarding the world. But in the end, the main factor that sets the direction of our lives is in fact the desires of our heart. We are first and foremost emotional creatures, not essentially rational ones. As time passes in my own life, I have come to realize that the category that has most influenced me is this third category of desire.
Blaise Pascal wrote in his Pensee's the following: “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person, and it can never be filled by any created thing. It can only be filled by God, made known through Jesus Christ.”
I believe we are all driven from birth to fill this God shaped vacuum in our hearts. We have no choice...the vacuum is built into us and we each seek to fill it in many different ways.
Wisdom is found in recognizing and discerning how this God shaped hole is affecting our decisions about tomorrow and the rest of our lives.
The first category is essentially that of ideas or knowledge. Some people believe that they set the direction of their life based upon their knowledge of the world around them. They will emphasize education, data, and use the argument that before any decision is made, careful research is undertaken to help guide their decision. The impact of emotion or belief is minimized and the rational is placed at the forefront.
The second category that people feel guide their decisions in life is their beliefs. This is where the goal of establishing a true view of the world (worldview) is important. Beliefs are different than ideas in my definition because ideas are purely rational while beliefs have a component of emotional attachment to the ideas. Those who argue this position believe that decisions regarding the direction of one's life are made based upon their strongly held beliefs regarding their view of the world.
The third category is one of desire. Those who argue this position believe that we are led in our lives first and foremost by our desires. It is certainly true that desires are influenced by rational thought and also by beliefs regarding the world. But in the end, the main factor that sets the direction of our lives is in fact the desires of our heart. We are first and foremost emotional creatures, not essentially rational ones. As time passes in my own life, I have come to realize that the category that has most influenced me is this third category of desire.
Blaise Pascal wrote in his Pensee's the following: “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person, and it can never be filled by any created thing. It can only be filled by God, made known through Jesus Christ.”
I believe we are all driven from birth to fill this God shaped vacuum in our hearts. We have no choice...the vacuum is built into us and we each seek to fill it in many different ways.
Wisdom is found in recognizing and discerning how this God shaped hole is affecting our decisions about tomorrow and the rest of our lives.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Solitude
This morning I read the well known story of Elijah taking on the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. We all know the story...Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to a sacrificial duel. They each sacrifice a bull on an altar, and the God who consumes the sacrifice with fire is the true God. Of course Elijah wins since the LORD is the true God and he defeats the prophets of Baal.
When most of us think of Elijah, we think of that story. But if you go to the beginning of the 17th chapter of 1 Kings where the story begins, you learn something interesting. God first called Elijah to tell Ahab, the King of Israel, that there would not be any rain for 3 years. After passing the message on, Elijah goes and lives in hiding way out in the middle of nowhere. He's there by himself for months! What does he do? No Internet, no people, no movies, no books, no Bible...he's there by himself with nothing to do. He doesn't even have to go find food. God has the ravens do that for him.
It's hard for me to imagine spending months in the wilderness like that...absolutely nothing to do but talk to God and think. I mean, I like my solitude, but that's a whole different level! No human interaction for months? I wonder how many of us could do that? Elijah probably thought he was going to be there for 3 YEARS! As it turned out, the brook he was drinking out of dried up, so God moved him into a city to live with a widow. Perhaps God saw something in Elijah that showed he needed to have human interaction.
What strikes me is that while we often think of Elijah as this amazingly powerful prophet, he spent most of his time in what appears to be relative inactivity...and much of it in solitude.
Henri Nouwen writes in The Way of the Heart that there are three keys to strengthening our spiritual life. They are solitude, silence, and prayer. No doubt Elijah practiced all of them...extensively. Perhaps that was why he was chosen by God to offer the sacrifice that was consumed by heavenly fire.
Something to think about...
When most of us think of Elijah, we think of that story. But if you go to the beginning of the 17th chapter of 1 Kings where the story begins, you learn something interesting. God first called Elijah to tell Ahab, the King of Israel, that there would not be any rain for 3 years. After passing the message on, Elijah goes and lives in hiding way out in the middle of nowhere. He's there by himself for months! What does he do? No Internet, no people, no movies, no books, no Bible...he's there by himself with nothing to do. He doesn't even have to go find food. God has the ravens do that for him.
It's hard for me to imagine spending months in the wilderness like that...absolutely nothing to do but talk to God and think. I mean, I like my solitude, but that's a whole different level! No human interaction for months? I wonder how many of us could do that? Elijah probably thought he was going to be there for 3 YEARS! As it turned out, the brook he was drinking out of dried up, so God moved him into a city to live with a widow. Perhaps God saw something in Elijah that showed he needed to have human interaction.
What strikes me is that while we often think of Elijah as this amazingly powerful prophet, he spent most of his time in what appears to be relative inactivity...and much of it in solitude.
Henri Nouwen writes in The Way of the Heart that there are three keys to strengthening our spiritual life. They are solitude, silence, and prayer. No doubt Elijah practiced all of them...extensively. Perhaps that was why he was chosen by God to offer the sacrifice that was consumed by heavenly fire.
Something to think about...
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Being versus Doing
For the past several months, there has been a great deal of uncertainty as to where I will be focusing my time and attention. This uncertainty has brought with it a level of anxiety and a desire to have the uncertainty eliminated.
Recently, I've noticed that even though there is still a fair amount of uncertainty, the level of anxiety and the desire to have the uncertainty eliminated have drastically diminished. At first I thought I had simply become used to living in the midst of the uncertainty. But on further reflection, I realize that something more basic has occurred.
I've always struggled with putting too much of my significance on what I do (as noted in the previous post). There is an alternative...and that is to place our significance on who we are. Or, saying something similar with different language, drawing our identity from who we are rather than what we do. Focusing on being rather than doing.
One way to measure where we are deriving our identity is the level of anxiety regarding the future...especially when the future is unclear regarding our activitites. If our identity is based upon our actions rather than who we are, then the level of anxiety will be quite high. But if our identity is based on who we are which is not uncertain, then the level of anxiety will be much less.
We can't control the world in which we undertake our doings. However, we can control how much significance we place on those doings, and instead ground our identity in who we are in Christ. That's something that will never change!
Recently, I've noticed that even though there is still a fair amount of uncertainty, the level of anxiety and the desire to have the uncertainty eliminated have drastically diminished. At first I thought I had simply become used to living in the midst of the uncertainty. But on further reflection, I realize that something more basic has occurred.
I've always struggled with putting too much of my significance on what I do (as noted in the previous post). There is an alternative...and that is to place our significance on who we are. Or, saying something similar with different language, drawing our identity from who we are rather than what we do. Focusing on being rather than doing.
One way to measure where we are deriving our identity is the level of anxiety regarding the future...especially when the future is unclear regarding our activitites. If our identity is based upon our actions rather than who we are, then the level of anxiety will be quite high. But if our identity is based on who we are which is not uncertain, then the level of anxiety will be much less.
We can't control the world in which we undertake our doings. However, we can control how much significance we place on those doings, and instead ground our identity in who we are in Christ. That's something that will never change!
Sunday, October 21, 2012
The View
I've spent too much time the past several months struggling with my emotions on a particular issue. There have been days when I'm extremely frustrated, only to have those emotions radically change only a few days later when I'm able to get a more distant view of the situation. By distant view, I mean seeing the situation from a different perspective...an eternal perspective. The change in my emotions has been dramatic! I will go from being very frustrated, to a sense of complete calm, or even caring very little about the issue.
Absolutely amazing!
As I think through the reason that this perspective change is so powerful, I find that the key issue is how I am drawing my significance. We are all created by God with 2 critical needs. We have a critical need to be loved and a critical need to have impact or significance. These are not optional. If they are not met in some way, we begin to contemplate suicide.
Men I understand tend to be more concerned about their significance and that is certainly the case for me. To allow my significance to simply float out in the ether is not possible. Though the "thing" on which I may base my significance may change, I realize that I am always basing my significance on something.
Another way of looking at this is how I view myself...my identity. My identity is always going to be tied into my significance. If I see myself first as a physician, then odds are pretty good that I'm drawing most of my significance from my role as a physician. If I see myself first as a son of the living God, then my significance rests upon that which is eternal and unchanging.
I have a choice...do I want to base my significance on something that changes and is affected by the world, or do I want to base it upon a Person who never changes and who can't be changed? It's rather obvious which it should be...but it raises the question of why I can't maintain that position. Why is it that I can start a day basing my significance on who I am in the Lord, and within 2 hours...I've allowed it to be placed on something temporary and volatile? It's easy to know when that happens since that's when emotions can be elicited in ways that are not always good.
As I think through the reason that this perspective change is so powerful, I find that the key issue is how I am drawing my significance. We are all created by God with 2 critical needs. We have a critical need to be loved and a critical need to have impact or significance. These are not optional. If they are not met in some way, we begin to contemplate suicide.
Men I understand tend to be more concerned about their significance and that is certainly the case for me. To allow my significance to simply float out in the ether is not possible. Though the "thing" on which I may base my significance may change, I realize that I am always basing my significance on something.
Another way of looking at this is how I view myself...my identity. My identity is always going to be tied into my significance. If I see myself first as a physician, then odds are pretty good that I'm drawing most of my significance from my role as a physician. If I see myself first as a son of the living God, then my significance rests upon that which is eternal and unchanging.
I have a choice...do I want to base my significance on something that changes and is affected by the world, or do I want to base it upon a Person who never changes and who can't be changed? It's rather obvious which it should be...but it raises the question of why I can't maintain that position. Why is it that I can start a day basing my significance on who I am in the Lord, and within 2 hours...I've allowed it to be placed on something temporary and volatile? It's easy to know when that happens since that's when emotions can be elicited in ways that are not always good.
That is the real question...how do we maintain our identity in the Lord...or another way of phrasing it...an eternal perspective in the midst of personal attacks or the stress of a difficult day? That will be the topic of many posts to come!
Monday, October 15, 2012
It's all about the heart...
The older I get, the more I realize that it really is all about the heart! By that I mean that a person's actions, attitudes, reactions, passion, goals, success and whole direction of life arise out of the heart. That doesn't mean that the person necessarily realizes this reality. In fact, I suspect that most people live like I did for many years...unaware of the ways that their heart was affecting them.
Proverbs 4:23 has been a key verse for author John Eldredge and for good reason. The NIV translation is: "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." There are two essential points of the verse. First of all, the writer warns that we must guard our heart "...above all else...". Above all else means that we are to care for our hearts before we care for our bodies, our minds, even before our souls! The heart refers to that part of us that contains not only our emotions, but also our motivations, disappointments, dreams, and aspirations. It is the seat of our very reason for living. Someone with a healthy "heart" will never contemplate suicide. Thus the reason to "guard" our hearts! A healthy heart is expressed through things like dance, music, poetry, and ultimately joy!
The second part of this verse contains the statement that everything we do flows from the heart. That's quite a statement! Everything we do...whether good or bad...whether mundane or exciting...flows out of the heart. The heart is in fact our internal generator. It powers all of our actions and also sets the direction of our life. If we have received the new covenant heart, our hearts will be good and our actions will bear good fruit.
I've learned how critical it is to take time to feed my heart. The "heart food" we need is different for each of us. For me, a day of quiet like today in front of the fire rates pretty high on the heart scale. Add in some great books, time on the guitar and it only gets better! After a day like that, I'm prepared to tackle most anything...as the Lord is with me!
Proverbs 4:23 has been a key verse for author John Eldredge and for good reason. The NIV translation is: "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." There are two essential points of the verse. First of all, the writer warns that we must guard our heart "...above all else...". Above all else means that we are to care for our hearts before we care for our bodies, our minds, even before our souls! The heart refers to that part of us that contains not only our emotions, but also our motivations, disappointments, dreams, and aspirations. It is the seat of our very reason for living. Someone with a healthy "heart" will never contemplate suicide. Thus the reason to "guard" our hearts! A healthy heart is expressed through things like dance, music, poetry, and ultimately joy!
The second part of this verse contains the statement that everything we do flows from the heart. That's quite a statement! Everything we do...whether good or bad...whether mundane or exciting...flows out of the heart. The heart is in fact our internal generator. It powers all of our actions and also sets the direction of our life. If we have received the new covenant heart, our hearts will be good and our actions will bear good fruit.
I've learned how critical it is to take time to feed my heart. The "heart food" we need is different for each of us. For me, a day of quiet like today in front of the fire rates pretty high on the heart scale. Add in some great books, time on the guitar and it only gets better! After a day like that, I'm prepared to tackle most anything...as the Lord is with me!
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Why On the Edge?
As I pass into my 59th year and ponder the significance of that milestone, I can't escape the fact that I'm moving into a different stage of life. Not so much old age, but rather a stage in which I can increasingly emphasize the state of being over the state of doing. A stage where reflection is valued more than accomplishments, quiet thought more than activity, and being with God more than doing for God.
I realize that it's also a stage in which I could have the honor of helping others in their process of becoming. We are all in the process of becoming someone...yet most haven't thought about who they are becoming or why. That's what I'm looking forward to...helping others think through who they are becoming... and help them become the person God wants them to be. Not that I've fully arrived yet...you would only need to ask my family to get the correct answer on that one...but at 59 I have come some distance at least.
Thus the title, "On the edge". The edge is the present...the time in which we are all in the process of becoming. The edge is where we are either moving toward becoming the person we want to be, or we are languishing in our life, distracted by any number of frivolous activities that end up taking us away from becoming who we want to be.
I choose the former and offer an open invitation to those who want to join me in this journey...
I realize that it's also a stage in which I could have the honor of helping others in their process of becoming. We are all in the process of becoming someone...yet most haven't thought about who they are becoming or why. That's what I'm looking forward to...helping others think through who they are becoming... and help them become the person God wants them to be. Not that I've fully arrived yet...you would only need to ask my family to get the correct answer on that one...but at 59 I have come some distance at least.
Thus the title, "On the edge". The edge is the present...the time in which we are all in the process of becoming. The edge is where we are either moving toward becoming the person we want to be, or we are languishing in our life, distracted by any number of frivolous activities that end up taking us away from becoming who we want to be.
I choose the former and offer an open invitation to those who want to join me in this journey...
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